Building set with U-shaped blocks

ABSTRACT

A building set with building elements, having coupling means in the form of projecting studs and corresponding cavities for interconnection of building elements, consists of building elements with U-shaped edges and single row of studs and cavities allowing construction of flexible angle structures with pivoting parts.

FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH

[0001] Not Applicable

SEQUENCE LISTING OR PROGRAM

[0002] Not Applicable

BACKGROUND

[0003] This invention relates to set of building blocks, which arestructured to be connected together. Building blocks of this kind aregenerally known, and marketed under the trade marks LEGO, or DUPLO. Suchbuilding sets includes traditional building elements in the form ofbox-shaped building blocks provided with coupling studs on the upperside and complementary coupling means on the lower side, as shown inU.S. Pat. No. 3,005,282 Christiansen. The drawbacks with suchtraditional building blocks are:

[0004] Construction of such blocks is only possible with right angles orstraight angles (e.g. 0°, 90°, 180°, 270° angles).

[0005] No possibility of pivoting a portion of a structure relative toanother portion.

[0006] Other invention such as U.S. Pat. No. 4,740,189 Bertrand takesmore complicated new additional units to avoid the above drawbacks. Theinvention proposed hereinafter overcomes such drawbacks simply by meansof U-shaped building blocks arranged only with single row of couplingstuds on the upper side and complementary coupling means on the lowerside.

SUMMARY

[0007] This invention proposes set of U-shaped building blocks havingsingle row of coupling studs on the upper side and complementarycoupling cavity on the lower side. The two common features (U-shape,single row of coupling) of blocks in the set allows the construction ofblocks with flexible angles (any angles between 90° to 270°), andpivoting parts. Such building set may consist of blocks with anydifferent number of coupling studs.

DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

[0008]FIG. 1A, FIG. 2A, FIG. 3A, FIG. 4A are side perspective view ofthe toy building blocks with number of coupling studs of 1, 2, 3, and 4respectively;

[0009]FIG. 1B, FIG. 2B, FIG. 3B, FIG. 4B are top plan view of the toyblocks with number of coupling studs of 1, 2, 3, and 4 respectively;

[0010]FIG. 1C, FIG. 2C, FIG. 3C, FIG. 4C are front elevational view(thereof, the rear side being identical) of the toy blocks with numberof coupling studs of 1, 2, 3, and 4 respectively;

[0011]FIG. 1C, FIG. 2E, FIG. 3E, FIG. 4E are left side elevational view(thereof, the right side being identical) of the toy blocks with numberof coupling studs of 1, 2, 3, and 4 respectively; and,

[0012]FIG. 1D, FIG. 2D, FIG. 3D, FIG. 4D are bottom plan view of the toyblocks with number of coupling studs of 1, 2, 3, and 4 respectively.

[0013] This invention is not limited to the above set of 4 blocks, butthe elementary block structure in the set can be extended to any numberof coupling studs.

[0014]FIG. 5 series illustrate how such elementary building blocksdescribed previously can be used to construct a structure with flexibleangle, and a moving part.

[0015]FIG. 5A is a side perspective view of the structure constructedfrom four elementary blocks 1 through 4.

[0016]FIG. 5B is front elevational view of the structure constructedfrom the four elementary blocks.

[0017]FIG. 5C is the top plan view of the structure constructed from thefour elementary blocks. It illustrates block 3 and 4 can be moved freelyagainst block 1 and 2. Such is not possible with box-shaped blockscoupled by multiple row of studs.

REFERENCE NUMERALS IN DRAWINGS

[0018]FIG. 3:

[0019]1, 2 U-Shaped edges.

[0020]3 Stud

[0021]4 Base

[0022]5 Cavity

[0023]FIG. 5:

[0024]1, 4 elementary building block with 2 studs.

[0025]2, 3 elementary building block with 3 studs.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0026] Referring to FIG. 3.B, the building block has U-shaped(semi-circled) edges 1, 2 to allow flexible moves against each other asillustrated in FIG. 5C.

[0027] Referring to FIG. 3.C, the suggested heights of stud 3 and itsbase 4 are approximately 1.25″ and 1.5″ respectively. The diameter ofstud 3 is approximately 1″, and width of its base 4 are approximately1.25″. The suggested ratio of dimensions can be altered, and the wholesize can be scaled to make smaller (e.g. toy building blocks), or largerconstructions possible. The dimensions of the said block can also besized to fit with existing blocks in the market (e.g. MEGA BLOK block).In such case, existing MEGA BLOK block and the said blocks can be joinedtogether to construct.

[0028] Referring to FIG. 3.D, the cavity 3 surrounded by fins can beconnected to the stud 1.

[0029] Such male and female connecting means to attach blocks verticallycan be any of various configurations and need not be necessarily thesame as illustrated herein, as long as the male and female can make firmcontact, and pivot against each other.

[0030] Building blocks according to the invention are preferably made ofplastic by means of injection molding. Suitable plastics for the toyblocks include polypropylene and ABS; for the construction block,recycled plastic can be used.

[0031] The above descriptions are generally applicable to FIG. 1-4, andare not limited to blocks only with number of coupling studs 1-4, butlarger numbers as well.

What is claimed is:
 1. A building block of U (semi-circle)-shapedparallelepiped hollow comprising a bottom and at most four side walls,at least one or more cylindrical projections extending normallyoutwardly from said bottom and arranged in single row, matching numberof cavities to said cylindrical projections extending normally from theinner face of said bottom, and parallel to said side walls, thelongitudinal axis of said cavity passing through the center of saidcylindrical projection, and the peripheries of said cylindricalprojections contacting said at least two side walls, whereby thecylindrical projections on one of said blocks can be inserted into thecavities on another of said blocks.
 2. A building block as set forth inclaim 1, wherein the inside diameter of said cavity is sized to fitsnugly said cylindrical projection.